American football is a very popular sport in the United States. Footballs come in a multitude of shapes, sizes, and materials. Some footballs are replicas of the leather footballs used in the collegiate and professional leagues. Other footballs may be made of an elastic foam which is resilient and compressible. This foam lessens the impact of the football making it safer for use. Some footballs may be geometrically sized and shaped to improve the distance they are able to be thrown.
One attempt to improve travel distance included a propeller enhanced football. This football has fins extending from the rear of the football where a propeller is externally located. The propeller is soft, so as not to injure a player. This is necessitated because the propeller is exposed and not internally located within the football. The football doesn't behave like a normal football, as it has fins extending out the back and an external propeller. The football is suited only for throwing. It is not intended to be played in a football game where handoffs, lateral passes, pitches and kicks occur. Furthermore, since the propeller is exposed and soft, the power produced by the football is weak at best and not much self-propulsion truly occurs.
Some have developed an engine-spiraled, stabilized football through an internal combustion engine. This football has the internal combustion engine located within the football that drives a propeller housed within a gyroscopic propeller ring. The internal combustion engine requires a fuel. Therefore, players must put into the football a combustible fuel, like gasoline. Combustible fuels and footballs don't go well with each other. Gasoline is a dangerous chemical that is not suited for a children's toy. Furthermore, an internal combustion engine produces heat which could present a fire hazard. The internal combustion engine could also burn a player when the football is handled. Compounding these dangers are the exhaust gases produced by the internal combustion engine. Playing with a football that emits toxic fumes is highly undesirable. Also, there is no control technology devised in the football that allows the football to easily self activate and deactivate when thrown. Therefore the engine must be started and left running while in use. Also, an external starter is needed to start the motor before the engine will operate. For all of the aforementioned reasons and others not discussed, the internal combustion engine should not be placed within a football intended for use by people, especially children.